SGS Informs on U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Amendment of Textile Labeling Rules

May 20, 2014 - PRLog -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the approval of the proposed amendment to its Textile Labeling Rules, addressing fibre content and country-of-origin disclosures (1). The Commission vote will be published in the Federal Register soon and the amended Rules will become effective 30 days after the Federal Register Notice is posted.

Textile Labeling Requirements

The Textile Labeling Rules require that certain textiles sold in the US carry labels disclosing the generic names and percentages by weight of the fibers in the product, the manufacturer or brand name, and the country where the product was processed or manufactured. The new amendments have taken into account the industry comments and feedback from the last public consultation in May 2013 (2). The Commission approved the changes and announced the amendments which include the below.

Changes in the Textile Labeling Rule

- Incorporation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 2076:2010(E) standard for generic fiber names for manufactured fibers;

- Certain hang-tags will be allowed to disclose fiber names and trademarks, and performance information, without the need to disclose the product’s full fiber content;

- The country-of-origin disclosure clarifies that the country of origin for an imported products the country where it was processed or manufactured, as per laws enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection;

- Better address electronic commerce by amending the definition of the terms “invoice” and “invoice or other paper”;

- Update the guaranty provisions by, among other things, replacing the requirement that guarantors sign continuing guarantees to guaranty products are compliant with the applicable law;

- Clarify the provision identifying textile fiber product categories and products that are exempt from the Act’s requirements.

The Commission decided not to adopt the proposal to make continuing guaranties effective for one year unless revoked earlier. Thus, continuing guaranties filed with the FTC will remain effective until revoked.

References:

1. FTC Press Releases - http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/03/ftc-issues-changes-textile-labeling-rules; Final rule

2. SGS Safeguards No. 079/13 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-07913-us-ftc-proposed-changes-to-the-textile-labeling-rules-a4-en-13.pdf)

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Contact details:

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Kris Wan

Senior Manager, Global Softlines Development Office

SGS Hong Kong

t: +852 2765 3695

Email: cts.media@sgs.com

Website: www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Softlines-and-Accessories.aspx

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